Toad in the hole
 

The thoughts of cooking a Yorkshire pudding can strike fear into the hearts of all but the toughest queen, but it’s actually quite easy.    This recipe uses Yorkshire pudding with good old “bangers” to make Toad-in-the-hole.  This is real comfort food that always goes down well when we cook it. The dish you cook it in is also very important.  The dish, ideally metal (or earthenware if you don’t have metal) should be oblong and big enough for all the sausages with at least a ¾” gap between them.  Your sausages must not touch – until after you’ve eaten anyway!    This recipe may seem like a lot of work, but really IS worth doing.  The secret to Yorkshire pudding is in the “wrist action” - the faster you go, the bigger it gets!!  There’s a lot of “beating” going on – so if you’ve had a hard day, take a nap first, or get someone else to do your beating for you of course – we’ve always found that fun!! There is only one-way to serve toad-in-the-hole and that’s with onion gravy. Serves 3-4 Ingredients:- For the Toad-in-the-hole 6-8     Lincolnshire sausages (or similar) 175g    plain flour (not self raising) 175ml   milk 100ml   water 2       large eggs 1 tbsp  shredded suet 50g     lard (or olive oil, if you must)          for the Onion gravy 400g    red onions 500ml   beef stock 150ml   red wine 1tbsp   flour (heaped) salt and pepper

Start this recipe at least 2 hours before you want to serve it. The first thing to do is caramelise the onions.  Onions contain a surprising amount of sugar, and this method of cooking releases this sugar, which results in fabulous dark sweet onions. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into a large frying pan and place over a very low heat.  Thinly slice the onions into rings and place into the pan (this may seem like an awful lot of onion at this stage, but they cook down a lot).  Cook the onions over the low heat, turning occasionally to prevent them from catching on the bottom of the pan, for about an hour or until the onions are very dark and glossy.

The batter for the toad-in-the-hole should also be made at this stage.  Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.  Crack the eggs into the well and add a small amount of the milk and water.  Start whisking (in the centre only) until enough flour has been incorporated and the mixture thickens.  Now add more milk and water and continue whisking until it thickens, then add more liquid and continue this process until the batter is the consistency of single cream.   Now whisk the mixture like buggery, and I mean really go for it.  When your arm feels like its about to drop off you can stop whisking.  The secret is to get as much air into the mixture as you can at this stage.

Finally, add the suet, whisk lightly to mix it in, cover the bowl with a tea towel and put it to one side to rest for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 200°C, Gas mark 6 Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and quickly fry the sausages over a high heat.  You only need to brown the sausages at this stage, not cook them.  Once the sausages are browned, remove the pan from the heat. Put the lard (or oil) into the roasting dish and put the dish into the oven for at least 15 minutes.  Remove the dish from the oven and immediately pour in the batter (the dish should ideally be smoking when you remove it from the oven).  The batter should sizzle around the sides of the dish.  Quickly place the sausages into the dish, spacing them evenly, and put the dish back into the oven. Time is of the essence here so don’t hang around. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to open the oven door for at least 25 minutes. Now make the gravy.  If you’ve taken the onions off the heat, put them back on over a medium heat.  Add the flour and start mixing with a wooden spoon.  The whole thing will come together in one lump and look a horrible mess.  Continue to cook this for 1-2 minutes stirring all the time and then add about 2 tbsp of the red wine.  Use a light beating action to incorporate the wine, but don’t beat too vigorously because you’ll break up the onion.  Once the wine has been absorbed (now its an even thicker pink mess) add some more wine and beat again.  Repeat this process until all the wine has been used, then start adding the stock in the same way.  As the mixture loosens up, you can add greater quantities of the liquid.  Once you are happy with the consistency of the gravy, bring it up to the boil, stirring all the time and then reduce the heat right down and leave to simmer.

Now set the table, because next stage is a bit manic. After the toad-in-the-hole has been in the oven for at least 25 minutes you can check on its progress.  We find it takes about 45 minutes to cook, but it depends on your oven.  What you are looking for is a well-risen golden brown Yorkshire pudding with the sausages nestling in it. Once the toad-in-the-hole is cooked, pour the gravy into a serving jug and get your guests to the table.  If the gravy has thickened too much, add some more stock to thin it a little. Now take the toad-in-the-hole from the oven directly to the table.  Don’t hang around because it will collapse slightly. Serve the toad-in-the-hole with masses of  onion gravy, some cheesy mashed potato (recpie below) and a robust red wine or your favourite beer/lager. Then sit back, and get someone else to do the washing up while you have a nap!

Serving suggestions: We like to serve Toad-in-the-hole with cheesy mashed potato.   To make cheesy mashed potato; boil 2lb of potatoes until tender, drain, and mash.  Beat in a  knob of butter and enough milk (or cream) to make a smooth creamy mash.    Lightly stir in 100g of grated cheddar and a tbsp of grain mustard and serve.

Tips Don't be tempted to use a food processor (unless its got a whisk attachment) to make the batter.  It doesn't beat in enough air and you'll end up with a flat one. You can experiment with different types of sausages if you wish.  We’ve found that very rich sausages such as wild boar or beef are not suitable because they are too dry.  The best thing to do with these types sausages is to make a casserole with them.  Watch this space. . .